


Are There No Decent Kings Among Us?

by CornOwl_Incorporated (CornOwl)



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Achievement Hunter Kings, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-06 22:43:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3151031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CornOwl/pseuds/CornOwl_Incorporated
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For some reason, the Kingdom of Cinna is never satisfied with her King. As a result, the crown gets passed around like it's a game of hot potato with a flaming coal. Each King has his accomplishments and his faults, but it seems the citizens are never happy. Cinna is waiting on her perfect King, but with neighboring kingdoms vying for more territories to control, will Cinna survive this game of Musical Thrones? Inspired by Mallius's art.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - King Geoff

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody! This is my first fic, so I hope it turns out well. I have big plans for this story. I'm confident that I can complete it. I am not so confident that I can complete it in a timely fashion, so there will be no schedule for updates. Chapters will come out when they come out.
> 
> I currently have about half of King Ryan written, so I'm not super far into it yet, but I'm chugging away.
> 
> If you enjoy it, leave me a comment, because constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!

The throne room was quiet as the King of Cinna sat, half napping, on his throne. He had been reveling in the silence that seemed so infrequent now. But of course, no good thing could last forever.

The heavy wooden doors of the throne room swung open and the King’s advisor strode into the room.

Geoff woke suddenly from his nap. “Whazzat?” he mumbled.

“Your Majesty,” Jack began formally. “There is something we need to discuss.”

“Can’t it wait? I was sleeping!”

Jack sighed and shoved the doors closed behind him.

“No, Geoff. It can’t.”

Geoff reached down beside the throne for a bottle. “Have a feelin’ I’m not gonna wanna be sober for this conversation,” he grumbled, taking a drink.

“Geoff, people are… Unhappy,” Jack said.

Geoff sat up. “Understatement of the century. I already knew that. Great! Conversation over!” He slumped back in his throne.

Jack stepped forward. “Geoff…”

“I don’t know why they’re so upset. These are the most peaceful times they’ve seen in centuries.” Geoff grouched.

“Geoff,” Jack repeated quietly, and the King knew he was in for some serious nagging.

“Maybe it’s time you stepped down.” Jack was no longer looking at the King, instead staring at the floor beneath Geoff’s feet. “I know that the Kingdom has seen it’s greatest years under your rule, but…” Jack finally met the King’s gaze. “I’m worried that this is upsetting you.”

Geoff stared at him in stunned silence. This was not at all the conversation he expected. Usually Jack was on Geoff’s case with his ‘maybe drink just a smidge less, Geoff’ and ‘making some more public appearances would be good for you, Geoff’ and ‘show your citizens how much you care about them, since they can’t see it when you’re always sitting in here on your throne, Geoff.’ Maybe he was right, but Geoff wasn’t really into appearances, especially when they were just fabricated to make him look good. Also, has nagging made anyone more eager to do anything ever?

But this… This was something else entirely, and Jack was the last person he’d have expected to bring it up.

“Geoff, you’re a great king, but I don’t want you to force yourself to remain in this position if it’s causing you nothing but pain.” Jack looked at the floor again. “Maybe you should think about picking a successor, for your own sake.” With that, the King’s advisor turned and strode from the room, the heavy doors barely slowing him down.

Geoff sighed and put his head in his hand. “Once again, Jack, you seem to have found the worst possible solution.”

It was silent for a long time.

“Why do you always have to make so much sense?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry King Geoff is basically just the tail end of his reign. Basically everything was going great in the kingdom before this, so there isn't much to talk about. The only reason Geoff stepped down was because the citizens started to think he didn't care about them (which wasn't true) and they started to resent him. I tried to make that clear in this chapter, but I'm not sure how well it worked.
> 
> Like it says in the summary, this work is inspired by Mallius's AH Kings art, which is gorgeous and you should totally check it out if you haven't already: http://mallius.tumblr.com/tagged/royalty-boner
> 
> This was originally a fic that was supposed to directly reference Mallius's little blurbs she writes beneath each picture, but her version of this au is much darker than I could make it. So now it's just inspired by her work.


	2. The Rise of King Ryan

Ryan stepped inside and the doormen closed the doors behind him, significantly muffling the crowd’s cheers. A newly forged crown sat upon his head. It felt strange.

Ryan paused momentarily as the weight of everything that had happened today finally hit him. He was the King now. That was something he’d never expected even in his wildest dreams.

He stared around the room, at the columns that lined the walls, not even struggling to carry the extraordinarily high ceiling. Seriously, who designs a building with ceilings that high? Sure it looks imposing, but it’s just impractical. And hard to clean. Ryan chuckled at the wayward thought.

He strode forward through the long entrance hall to the throne room, where Geoff was waiting for him.

The throne room doors were pulled closed behind Ryan. He couldn’t hear the crowd at all anymore. As promised, Geoff was there, standing beside the throne. Ryan wished he’d wipe that shit-eating grin off his face.

As he approached the throne, Geoff bowed low and said, “Your Majesty.”

Ryan groaned.

Geoff only chuckled and gestured to the throne. “Have a seat.”

The King rolled his eyes and shook his head in exasperation, but did as he was told.

Geoff leaned against the arm of the throne. “So how does it feel to be the King?” he asked, crossing his arms.

There was a pause as Ryan considered the question. “Heavy,” he finally replied.

Geoff smiled wistfully. “Yeah. Yeah, it is that.” He looked over his shoulder at the new King. “But you’ll be fine. I know you’ll be a great King.”

Ryan turned to his old friend.

“Thanks, Geoff.”

The King's horse whinnied and bucked, nearly knocking him to the ground. He patted the creature's neck to calm her, then drew his sword. Whatever had spooked her was most likely dangerous. It was probably foolish of him to ride so far out of town without his guards.

Ryan dismounted carefully, holding his sword out in front of him. The sun was just setting, and darkness was beginning to set in. Still, Ryan couldn't see any monsters around.

Something shimmered out of the corner of his eye. Ryan looked down. Reflected in his sword was a blueish green wall shining with magic. He turned around, but there was nothing to cause such a reflection.

Ryan walked slowly in the direction of the wall. A moment later, he felt something brush lightly over him. If he hadn't been looking for something, he might have never noticed it. He put his hand out where the magical barrier ought to be. A faint blue glow lit his hand.

Ryan scratched his head and stared at the seemingly empty space in front of him. The barrier seemed to exist right at Cinna's border, but Ryan couldn't figure out its purpose. He could walk through it without issue, so it didn't seem to be keeping anything in or out.

Ryan stood and puzzled over it for several more minutes but it seemed there were no answers to be had. The King whistled his horse back from where she had been munching grass. He hopped into her saddle and rode back to town to apologize to his guards for escaping them.

“Ryan sure has been distant a lot lately,” Michael commented shortly. "What with his constant trips to the borders to ask about different types of magic."

Ray glanced over at the Commander of the Royal Guard. “He’s always been fascinated by magic in all its forms. He’s just focused on finding ways to make the kingdom safer.” Ray turned to the man trailing behind the two knights. “Have you seen the King recently, Gavin?”

Gavin jumped a bit, pulled unsuspectingly from his thoughts. “Uh… Yeah, sort of. He keeps asking me to show him my fire trick.”

“I don’t blame him. Watching you summon fire is really impressive.”

“But if Ryan wants to make the kingdom safer, he should start by taking those powers away from Gavin!” Michael joked.

“Awww! Michael!” Gavin whined. Then something occurred to him. “Actually, now that you mention it, I haven’t seen Ryan in a couple of days.”

“Do you think he made a breakthrough in his research?” Michael asked.

Ray and Gavin just shrugged.

“I mean, it’s not like we can go ask him. He doesn’t let anyone disturb him while he’s working, not even Geoff,” Ray reminded him. “We’ll just have to wait till he comes out of his lab.”

“Yeah, I know,” Michael grumbled.

“Come on, Lads!” Gavin cut in energetically. “Let’s go get some weapons practice in before dinner!”

Ray laughed. “I bet I can beat you at archery for real this time! Just don’t burn up the target with your dumb fire arrows again!” The pair ran off, leaving their Commander to try and catch up.

“You guys are way too excited to shoot sticks at a stupid circle!” Michael yelled as he followed after them.

Ryan hummed to himself in contemplation. It still wasn’t quite working. The potion was wearing off too quickly to provide proper protection.

And yet… This time the cloth had taken over a minute to burn, even against Gavin’s magical flames. Ryan was sure he was just days away from a successful test.

He sighed, returning the bottle of potion to its stand.

A loud thump startled Ryan, and he nearly toppled from his chair. He glanced over his shoulder at the trap doors and winced. That experiment had failed so spectacularly a crueler man might call it a success. Ryan shuddered to think about what any of his friends or advisors would say if they knew about it.

Ryan shook his head. No. That creature could not be considered a success to anyone. It was simply a reminder of the terrible power of magic.

Ryan’s hands clenched into fists. Perhaps not all magic. The magic in the barrier he had discovered nearly a year ago now had been nothing but benevolent. Ryan couldn’t say how he knew that. It was simply the feeling it gave off. In his many trips to the border, he had discovered that not only did the magic barrier completely surround the Kingdom, it was also completely invisible to all Cinna’s inhabitants. In all Ryan’s studies, he had not been able to find the source of such benign magic, nor had he come close to duplicating it.

Suddenly furious, Ryan yelled wordlessly and threw a finished potion at the wall. The bottle smashed, and silvery liquid splashed the wall and floor. The affected spots slowly faded from view, revealing the dirt beyond.

For a long time, Ryan just stood clenching and unclenching his fists and breathing deeply. Finally he sighed. He needed to relieve some frustration, and he needed more potion ingredients anyway.

Ryan packed up his bag with food and finished potions, grabbed a sword, and headed to a small room off to the side of his lab where his portal glowed softly. **  
**


	3. Michael's Discovery

It had been three days since he, Gavin, and Ray had discussed the King’s whereabouts, and now over a week since anyone had seen him. Michael was getting worried.

He was now aimlessly wandering around the castle, trying to figure out what to do. Michael trusted his King, and believed whatever he was doing, it was for the good of his people. On top of that, he had asked to never be disturbed while he was working. But, Michael reasoned, what if one of his experiments had gone awry? No one would know until it was far too late. Hell, he’d been in there for over a week, it might already be too late. Michael made his decision and stopped abruptly.

Apparently his aimless wanderings hadn’t been as aimless as he thought. He was standing just outside the entrance to the King’s lab.

Steeling himself, Michael knocked on the door. And waited.

There was no response.

Michael’s heart began to beat faster. He knocked harder, but there was still no response.

He tried the doorknob, a last-ditch effort before he started breaking down the door, and found to his surprise that it was unlocked.

Michael opened the door slowly, but the hinges didn’t make a sound. Though the door was on the ground floor of the castle, Ryan’s lab was underneath it, at the bottom of a long flight of stone stairs.

The Commander placed his foot carefully on the first step, wondering if perhaps he’d jumped the gun on this one. The King was probably fine, and just working hard. There was nothing to worry about.

But then the image of Ryan lying dead in his lab filled Michael’s mind, and he continued down the steps.

The stairs let out into a large room filled with all manner of strange things. Michael couldn’t even begin to guess the purpose of most of them. There were several cauldrons lining one wall, and a long table covered in beakers on the adjoining one. A few of the beakers and one of the cauldrons were filled with strange liquids. The whole room felt covered in magic. What caught Michael’s attention, though, was a large wooden board lying on the floor in the center of the room. It didn’t seem to be attached to anything, and it didn’t look related to any of the other things in the room. Michael approached it cautiously. There were hinges on the side of the board. A trap door? There did seem to be a seam down the middle, oh, and there was a rope handle attached on either side. Definitely a door then, but leading where?

Michael stood staring at the handle for a long time, but eventually his curiosity got the better of him and, hey, what if that’s where the King went? He grabbed hold of the handle and pulled.

Beneath the door was a deep, dark hole. There were no ladders or anything else to climb to the bottom with.

For a moment, Michael stared into it in confusion. Then something moved at the bottom. The dim light that managed to reach the creature revealed a twisted, unnatural figure. It stood on two legs, but it was covered in short, coarse hair and the hands and feet appeared cloven. The face was grotesque and clearly inhuman with sharp horns that sprouted from the temples. As Michael watched, the dark, dripping mouth opened and the low bellow of a cow echoed up to him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

Michael kneeled, frozen, by the hole for several moments. He didn’t even notice when a door behind him opened.

“Michael. What are you doing in here?”

The voice was barely audible, but it sent shivers down Michael’s spine as he turned to the doorway where King Ryan stood. The other room was pitch black, and the shadows fell over Ryan’s face menacingly.

Michael couldn’t move from where he was crouched by the hole. He had never seen Ryan look so terrifying before. Michael’s eyes remained locked with Ryan’s as the King stepped slowly over to his knight. Finally, Michael tore his eyes away and stared at the ground below their feet.

“I was worried something had happened to you during your experiments, Your Majesty.” His voice was barely louder than a whisper.

Ryan’s hand reached down and Michael tensed, almost expecting a sword to slash down on his head. But Ryan simply lifted the door from Michael’s grasp and let it fall closed over the hole and the creature at the bottom.

Ryan’s hand moved to Michael’s shoulder. “I think it’s time for you to go. Edgar doesn’t really like guests.” Though his voice remained calm, the threat was not lost on Michael. He stood up abruptly.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty,” Michael said, bowing low. “I’ll leave you to your work.” He turned and made a beeline for the stairs. He froze as Ryan’s voice reached him again.

“Oh, Michael.” His voice was just as quiet as before. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention this to the others. They might not be as… understanding as you.”

Michael didn’t turn to look at him as he replied, “Of course, My King.”

With that, he fled back up the stairs.

 

Ryan returned from his lab just a few hours after Michael. At dinner that night, Michael saw the King from his place at the head of the knight's table, but Ryan didn't even glance at him.

Over the next few days, Michael saw very little of the King, almost if he was avoiding him. Even when they did see each other, Ryan payed his head knight little attention, and Michael became increasingly restless. He sought out every excuse to avoid being alone in the King’s presence, so much so that even Gavin and Ray began to take notice.

They approached him after dinner one night, cornering him before he could retreat to his room as he had been doing every night.

“Okay, Michael, what’s wrong? You’ve been fidgety and distant all week,” Ray began.

“Nothing, I’m fine.” Michael tried to move past them.

Ray moved to block his escape and glared. “You don’t actually expect us to believe that do you? We’re not that dumb.”

“Michael.” Gavin’s face was filled with worry. “Michael, is everything alright? You’re acting like you’re scared of something.”

“I’m fine,” he said firmly. “Don’t you two have somewhere to be tonight? You know, guarding the walls and all that? Kind of important work?”

“Alright, fine, Michael,” Ray sighed. “If you don’t want to tell us what happened, then don’t. We’re only, like, your best friends, not that that matters or anything.” He turned to go. “C’mon, Gavin.”

Gavin hesitated. “Michael, you can tell us about it, you know…” He turned and followed Ray to their posts on the walls.

Michael stood silently in the dining hall for a long time. Even now, he remembered exactly how Ryan’s face had looked when he found him in his lab. It was as clear as if he was still frozen by the man’s stare.

“No, Gavin. I can’t.”


End file.
